45
" The only way to free yourself from a lifetime of being tyrannized by your own thought processes, whether you suffer from excessive anxiety or not, is to come to see your thoughts for what they are and to discern the sometimes subtle—but most often not-so-subtle—seeds of craving and aversion, of greed and hatred, at work within them. When you can successfully step back and see that you are not your thoughts and feelings, that you do not have to believe them, and that you certainly do not have to act on them, when you see vividly that many of them are inaccurate, judgmental, and fundamentally greedy or aversive, you will have found the key to understanding why you feel so much fear and anxiety. At the same time you will have found the key to maintaining your equilibrium. Fear, panic, and anxiety will no longer be uncontrollable demons. Instead you will see them as natural mental states that can be worked with and accepted just like any others. Then, lo and behold, the demons may not come around and bother you so much. You may find that you don’t see them at all for long stretches. You may wonder where they went or even whether they ever existed. Occasionally you may see some smoke, just enough to remind you that the lair of the dragon is still occupied, that fear is a natural part of living, but not something you have to be afraid of. "
― Jon Kabat-Zinn , Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
48
" For while we are now blessed with "24/7 connectivity" so we can be in touch with anybody anywhere at any time, we may be finding, ironically enough, that it is more difficult than ever to actually be in touch with ourselves. What is more, we may feel that we have less time in which to do it, although each of us still gets the same twenty-four hours a day as everybody else. It's just that we fill up those hours with so much doing, we scarcely have time for being anymore, or even for "catching our breath. "
― Jon Kabat-Zinn , Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
55
" The whole point of this book, and of MBSR, is that there is a lot that you can do to gently, lovingly, and firmly—through non-striving and non-doing, coupled with doing when taking action with awareness is called for—influence how things unfold across the life span, tilting them in the direction of greater well-being, self-compassion, and wisdom to whatever degree possible, always unknown. HOW "
― Jon Kabat-Zinn , Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
60
" The transactional view of psychological stress reminds us that we can be more resistant to stress, more resilient, if we build up our resources and enhance our physical and psychological well-being in general (for example, via regular exercise, meditation, adequate sleep, and the deep connectedness of interpersonal intimacy, to name four of the most important ones) during times when we are not particularly taxed or overwhelmed. This is our biological and psychological “bank account” from which we can withdraw needed resources on some occasions, and to which we can make deposits at other times. This is really what the phrase “healthy lifestyle” implies. "
― Jon Kabat-Zinn , Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness